A vacation Bible school in India had to stop its operations last week after it received threats from two members of Hindu nationalist groups.
According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), the two men belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Hindu Munani (Hindu Front) reportedly stormed the Victory and Light Prayer House in Palavanatham village, Tamil Nadu on May 1 and demanded that its operations be stopped.
The men reportedly questioned the children at the church-run Bible school about their caste and prevented anyone from leaving the school while they waited for the police. The school's organizer, John Madhvan, said that the two men had threatened church members in the past.
The Bible school, which was attended by about 50 children ages between four and 12, was only supposed to run from May 1 to May 6, but was suspended following the disruption.
Nehemiah Christie, the Executive Director (Legislation and Regulations) of The Synod of Pentecostal Churches, expressed disappointment about the program's suspension.
"The vacation Bible school has been conducted for well over 50 years across India. It is sad to see children being exposed to this level of religious intolerance and intimidation," Christie said, according to CSW.
"The communal mobilization of Hindu nationalism is expanding at an alarming rate here where we see religious hardline groups employ bullying tactics and flagrantly use of the law enforcement apparatus to instill fear on Christian interests. If this type of behavior is allowed to persist, the prospects of maintaining a cohesive and integrated society will be lost. This kind of future was not envisaged by our forefathers like Gandhi and Ambedkar," Christie went on to say.
Some residents have suggested that Hindu nationalists have become more zealous in Tamil Nadu after the death of the former Chief Minister, J. Jayalalithaa in December 2016, allowing the groups to aggressively push their ideology in an effort to establish a stronghold in the region.
Persecution watchdog group Open Doors has ranked India as the 11th most dangerous country to live as a Christian, mostly due to the actions of Hindu radical groups against religious minorities.
According to Open Doors, one of the main sources of persecution of Christians in India comes from organizations such as the BJP, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Shiv Sena and Vishya Hindu Parishad (VHP).
Hindu radicals who want to rid the nation of both Islam and Christianity are known for using campaigns called Ghar Wapsi (or "homecoming") to pressure Indian Christians to convert back to Hinduism.
